Gibraltar vs Scotland

Estádio Algarve sets the stage for an international friendly between European minnows Gibraltar and out-of-form Scotland.

Back to the field they formerly occupied between 2013 and 2017, Gibraltar will hope to be a decent sparring partner, even though their form makes for unenviable reading. In addition to losing their 12 internationals and conceding 48 unanswered goals in the build-up to this fixture, Gibraltar’s disappointing streak features their heaviest defeat since gaining UEFA admission in 2013 – 14-0 at the hands of France. If it’s any consolation, the past six years have been far more kind to Gibraltar than their first five in the elite society, with eight victories since 2018 outperforming a poor return of one before that. However, Gibraltar’s overall record in FIFA-recognized fixtures casts doubt on their hopes of defying the odds (W8, D9, L69).

On the other hand, Scotland’s warm-up campaign for their second consecutive European Championship appearance has been off to a disastrous start. Steve Clarke’s men have lost back-to-back friendlies without scoring and will be desperate to make amends against FIFA’s 203rd-ranked nation. The Tartan Army need every confidence boost they can get after going winless in their last seven internationals (D2, L5), six of which saw them concede multiple goals. But Scotland’s recent record in exhibition matches can’t inspire much optimism, with just one win from their last 13 friendlies (D3, L9) curtailing their hopes of bettering last Euros’ bottom-half group finish. On the bright side, they’ve netted 12 goals across two H2H triumphs over Gibraltar.